That's really my goal now. I'm trying to be a positive role

The words of Taylor Dayne — “That’s really my goal now. I’m trying to be a positive role model to my kids and to just enjoy this ride, because it’s hard. It’s hard to enjoy it when you’re in it.” — are the confession of one who has walked the paths of both fame and trial, and who has come to understand that the greatest victories are not always measured in applause or crowns, but in the quiet legacy passed to one’s children. To be a role model is to shape the future not with words alone, but with life itself.

She speaks of the ride, that swift journey of existence which often sweeps us forward in a rush of demands, triumphs, and struggles. In the whirlwind, joy is easily lost, for the traveler is too consumed with striving. Dayne’s words remind us of the ancient wisdom: to live in the moment, to enjoy the road while it is being traveled, and not only when the destination has been reached. For what is life if not a fleeting ride, one that must be savored before it passes?

The ancients themselves spoke of this truth. Marcus Aurelius, emperor and philosopher, wrote in his Meditations that men are always waiting for life, as if it is yet to begin, yet life is happening even now. Dayne’s reflection echoes this same teaching: that the burden of “hard” times blinds us to the sweetness present in the moment. To awaken to that sweetness, even amid trial, is to grasp what philosophers and saints have long proclaimed — the art of living well.

Her desire to be a positive role model to her kids also carries the weight of lineage. For children do not only inherit our features; they inherit our habits, our values, and our example. History reminds us of Alexander the Great, who learned from his father Philip the discipline of war, but from his tutor Aristotle the pursuit of wisdom. Both models shaped his destiny. So too, every parent leaves imprints upon the soul of their child — a legacy more enduring than monuments.

Let the generations remember: the true goal of life is not only to conquer the world, but to shape the hearts of those who will walk after us. To find joy in the present, to endure hardship with grace, and to offer children an example worth following — these are the deeds that outlast fame and echo through eternity. Taylor Dayne’s words, simple yet profound, remind us that the greatest triumph is not in the glory of the stage, but in the unseen victories of the home.